Although Medicare and Medicaid are important programs in order to provide all Americans with health care services, there are still coverage gaps. The three components of Medicare are the hospital, medical, and pharmaceutical coverage offered to older Americans. In this context, the related gaps include the absence of coverage for some prescribed drugs that are required for older people and the necessity for them to provide copays (Austin & Wetle, 2017; Rowland & Lyons, 2016). The three components of Medicaid include coverage for low-income parents and their children, coverage for older people, and coverage for disabled people. Still, there are some gaps that are associated with the impossibility to address some uninsured persons and the inability of some states to expand Medicaid in the context of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Rowland & Lyons, 2016). As a result, many middle-aged and unemployed low-income persons often remain uninsured and unsupported in the United States because of Medicare and Medicaid limitations.
The Social Security program has potential benefits for protecting older people in the situation when they can have limited access to resources and care. In spite of some concerns regarding the program’s effectiveness, it should be promoted because of its positive effects on Americans (Schobel, 2019). The reason is that Americans of the retirement age currently need support to protect them from the loss of their resources because of demographic and economic changes observed and forecasted in the country. Thus, this program can guarantee some stability for individuals of the retirement age and older people (Schobel, 2019). Therefore, the Social Security program can be further followed in the country because now it is important and beneficial for Americans.
References
Austin, A., & Wetle, V. (2017). The United States health care system: Combining business, health, and delivery (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.
Rowland, D., & Lyons, B. (2016). Medicaid’s role in health reform and closing the coverage gap. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 44(4), 580-584. Web.
Schobel, B. D. (2019). Public oversight of the Social Security program. Journal of Financial Service Professionals, 73(2), 37-41.